OK, I have done some stupid things in the herb garden.

No, not like getting rip snorting drunk and rolling around naked in Nettles or anything…heck, I don’t drink.

I mean idiotic garden plantings that seemed like a good idea at the time-but were never going to work. I am by nature an experimenter and forever want to try new things. Based on my growing location and climate you’d think I’d know better than to plant some of the stuff I do, but I still keep trying.

Insanity or Incurable Optimist? Hmmm, it’s a very fine line.

Basket Willow in the Herb Garden

Willows are my latest mishap…but I haven’t given up. Yet.

I wanted a graceful willow planting.

Like the kind you see in the UK. Living willow arches, willow seats, willow domes. Try a Google search for ‘willow arch’ and you’ll see some of the gorgeous photos. These are things I long for in my garden.

I already had lots of willows from the nursery, and many varieties are perfect for what I wanted to do….however my climate does not cooperate with my plans.

The plan was to take some cuttings and make a series of small interlocking willow arches on one end of the patio for morning shade. The problem? The willows often die back to the ground in the winter. They grow back in very odd ways.

Here is one of my small willow arches that certainly has grown back in an odd way. Sad and in need of a haircut, isn’t it?

Seriously Bad Willow Arch

Here is the same arch after it’s haircut.

Still just as bad

Yes, It looks like Dr Seuss went on a bender armed with a pair of hedge clippers.

Well, I’ve decided to give the willows one more year to shape up…or I am afraid I’ll have to replace them with something practical and attractive.

That actually makes me feel kind of weepy.

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